Digits Show: The World’s First 3-D Printed House

Imagine downloading the blueprint to your custom home on the Internet. When you’re ready to build, just hit print.

Turns out architects in Holland are already doing this. WSJ’s Carl Nasman interviews Dutch architect Hans Vermuelen, who has started construction on the world’s first 3-D printed house–which he is expected to finish in 2017.

For construction of the house, Vermuelen needed something larger than the consumer 3-d printers available on the market. So his team had to build their own printer–it is now the largest 3-D printer in the world. The device prints the house’s parts layer by layer, with melted plastic. Then the pieces are assembled like giant Lego pieces.

“The potential of 3-D printers is that you can make unique, personal housing,” Vermuelen says.